What High School Juniors Should Be Thinking About Right Now – Pt 1. Extracurricular Activities and Summer Programs
What should high school juniors be thinking about right now if they want to maximize their chances of admissions success next fall?
Great question. In reality, outside of continuing to get good grades, there are only 5 CRITICAL THINGS that high school juniors should be thinking about right now:
- Extracurricular Activities
- Summer Programs
- Recommendation Letters
- ACT
- APs and SAT II Subject Tests
Today, we will cover Extracurriculars and Summer Programs. If this post does well and people show they are interested by sharing it, we will then write a 2nd post about the ACT, APs + SAT II Subject Tests, and Recommendation Letters.
Note: Curious why we only mentioned the ACT and not the SAT I? Read here: https://www.admissionshero.com/new-sat-vs-act-or-why-you-should-take-the-act-instead/
How do colleges view extracurricular activities?
Colleges want to admit successful students. Successful students in HS tend to be successful in college, and successful students in college tend to be successful in life. With these students, colleges can establish an overall improvement in ranking, public perception, and prestige (and not to mention alumni donations).
Extracurricular activities are the best way to determine how successful a student is outside of the classroom. Top colleges tend to look for students who are the leaders in their fields and interests—the future pioneers of their specialties. But they also like students who can easily adapt to new things. Thus, it is very important for students to participate in extracurricular activities that showcase their interests and capabilities in a non-academic setting.
For Asian students in particular, demonstrating leadership is really important. There is a stereotype that Asian students are only good at studying. In general, Asian students tend to have weaker leadership profiles. Thus, when applying to top schools, if you have a resume filled with strong leadership positions, you can demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and will stand out from the rest of the pool. Even a student with a perfect SAT or ACT shouldn’t overlook the importance of leadership – it is the reason why many are rejected.
There are 10 extracurricular activities on the Common App, and it’s important to fill out all of them. However, not all extracurricular activities are created evenly. Colleges use a ranking system to determine which resumes are the strongest, and there are pretty distinct criteria that schools use to judge those activities.
Oh, there’s a ranking system for extracurricular activities?
There is indeed a ranking system that colleges use – at some schools it’s an explicit numerical system, and at other schools the system is approximated by the predictable perception of the admissions officers. In general, it is useful to think of extracurricular activities as falling into 4 tiers.
The top tier includes superior leadership or accomplishment in an ultra-impressive or unique extracurricular that is relatively uncommon. For example, if you are the President of an organization with over 10,000 students in the US, then that is a tier 1 activity because it is so impressive. Another example would be if you are the best tenor sax player in the US. Or if you attended an ultra-prestigious summer program like RSI or TASP. If you founded a charity that donated over $100,000 to cancer, that is also definitely a tier 1 activity. Very few students have Tier 1 activities – these are the students that end up going to top schools as long as their grades are on-par.
The 2nd tier includes the highest leadership or accomplishment in a more traditional extracurricular. Tier 2 activities and accomplishments are more common. For example, if you are President of your school, that is definitely an impressive leadership position, but there is somebody that holds your position at every single HS in the US. If you make the All-State Orchestra for Violin, that is also a Tier 2 activity since it is prestigious but still not ultra-uncommon. However, don’t underestimate the value of Tier 2 activities just because they aren’t as good as Tier 1 activities – a healthy number of Tier 2 activities are necessary to even be considered for Ivies. One thing to note is that a possessing a bunch of Tier 2 activities can collectively be equivalent to a Tier 1 activity.
The 3rd tier includes lower leadership or accomplishments in a traditional extracurricular. For example, being the treasurer or secretary of your school’s community service club. Every applicant will usually have a couple of Tier 3 activities.
The 4th tier includes volunteering and general membership (no leadership) in a club. Usually, the activities in this tier on your resume will do nothing to really increase your admissions chances; however, they do give your application some color and lend insight into your personality. For example, volunteering at the homeless shelter for 4 years is still a Tier 4 activity no matter how you look at it. Still, although it won’t boost your admissions chances, it will let admissions officers know that you are a compassionate individual who cares about helping those less fortunate than you, which can give you bonus points during the admissions process.
Ah, I understand. I’m not sure if my extracurriculars are good enough for the colleges I’m thinking about. Is it too late for me now?
Well, every school has different requirements, and honestly it also depends on what your academic profile looks like too. So in order to fully determine if your extracurricular activities are actually good enough, we’d have to look at them. You can get a full analysis of your extracurricular profile by filling out a free consultation request here: www.admissionshero.com/free-consultation/.
Either way, it’s definitely not too late for you. In fact, every year we have students around this time come to us with extracurricular activities that are a little lacking, and in 8 short months their applications look much, much stronger. For example, we had a student who was very passionate about entrepreneurship but did not show this on her application at all. We recommended that she start a small business and helped her build it – by the time she submitted her applications, entrepreneurship was a central part of her app, her profile looked way stronger, and now she is at Wharton (the best undergraduate business program in the nation). If you are interested in getting help with your extracurricular activities, get in touch with us by emailing johan@admissionshero.com.
What about summer programs?
The summer before senior year is the most critical summer of all because it is the last period of unstructured time that exists before application season. Thus, many colleges look super critically at what you during this upcoming summer. In fact, Princeton University’s application even has a question that asks you specifically what you did for the past TWO summers!
One good way to spend your summer is to do a summer program. However, the caveat is that the program must be a quality program. The best way to tell if a program is high quality for college admissions is how much the program costs—the more expensive the program, the worse it is! Colleges like to see students attend free summer programs because 1) they are more selective and prestigious and 2) expensive programs only show that you have a privileged background to pay for opportunities other students might not have. Some of the best summer programs include TASP, RSI, Governor’s School, Boys/Girls Nation, MITES, etc.
What if I didn’t apply or get accepted to a summer program?
Many students fall into this category. Don’t worry! You can still make use of your summer in a way that will impress colleges. There are usually two other main ways to spend your junior summer.
The first way is to work an internship or job. If you live near a local university, you can usually do research in a lab. Typically, this requires extensive networking or cold-emailing abilities and is a little difficult to do if you’ve never done it before. However, done correctly it is definitely possible. For example, one of our clients did not get admitted to any summer programs his junior summer. As a result, we helped him find a research internship at Princeton University Chemistry Lab. What’s more, his research was eventually published in Nature magazine, which ended up being the strongest part of his application. (He is at MIT now!)
The second way is to start your own organization. This can be a great way to demonstrate both your interests and leadership qualities to colleges at the same time. Since there is a considerably greater amount of free time during summer, this is the perfect time to found an organization, recruit your friends, and work towards a common cause!
I have a question! / I want some advice on what to do right now.
We tried to cover as much information as possible but of course the nature of college-related things is that it is highly personalized. If you would like to speak to us about your extracurricular activities, summer, or anything else regarding college admissions, reach out to johan@admissionshero.com! We’ll respond in less than 24-hours—promise!
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